Heel.



Patentedk but. lo, |899.

. c. BLAcKAnAp.

H E E L (Application med mv. '30, lss.)

v (lo Nudel.)

me' man um 00 momma.. wnsnmcmu. D. c.

4 l* UNITED STATES PATENT Orrrcn.l

CHARLES BLACKADAR, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, `ASSIGNOR OE ONE- `HALF TO GEORGE H. SIMONDS, OF SAME PLACE.

HEEL.

sPEoIFIcATIoNrfOrmnig part of Letters Patent No. 634,743-, atea october- 10, 1899.

Application iiled November 30,1898. Serial No. 6952866. iNo model.)

Be itknown that I, CHARLES BLAGKADAR,

a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Lynn, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in' Heels; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to an improvementin heels for boots or shoes, and particularly to means of. layers of material placed under it,

and, further, in securing a tread portion to theheel in such manner that it may be turned .over when one tread-surface is worn and a new tread-surface substituted for the worn one, be# sides which objects my invention contemplates the renewing of the rubber tread portion when worn out by a new tread portion which may be easily slipped in-to the heel in place of the old one.

To these ends, therefore, my invention consists in the improvement in heels hereinafter described, and particularly pointed outin the claims.

In the drawings illustratingthe preferred form of myinvent-ion, in which like referencenumerals refer to vlike parts throughout, Figure l is a side elevation of my improved heel. Fig. 2 isa medial -longitudinal sectional elevation. Fig. 3 is a medial transverse sectional elevation, and Fig. 4 is a .perspective view showing the heel turned bottom up.

l indicates the leather shell of my heel, which is preferably made of a strip of leather which begins at the middle of the breast of the heel and extends around thesides of the same, returning to the middle of the breast of the heel from the other side,where it is united to the beginning end bya seam of stitches or ,by any other suitable means.

2 Vindicates the top of the heel, which consists of a piece of leather fitting inside of thel ou ter strip l, being sewed thereto by a seam of stitches 3 or secured thereto in any other suit.- able manner. The strip 1 and the top 2 together form a leather shell which presents to the eye when polished the same appearance as ordinary leather" liftdieels. In this connection it should be observed that'the leather will take and retain any desi-red color in the same manner as the leather of ordinary heels.

This constitutes an important advantage over those heels in which the rubber extends to the edges, which, as is well kno\vn,'will not retain the color as will leather.

While Ihave described the shell of my heel as made of a strip ofleather extending around the outside thereof, having attached thereto a top made of a separate piece of leather and sewed to the strip, I do not wish to restrict myself to precisely such method of making the shell, as I consider'that it is within the purview of my invention to make the shell of a single piece of leather or vulcanized liber or leather board stamped or pressed to the desired form.

4 indicates the rubber tread portion of my heel, which tits within the shell and is adapted to be held therein by the convex sides 5 of v the shell, which engage the corresponding concave sides of the rubber tread portion 4. It willbe'observed that the sides of the rubber treadpor'tion are concaved around the entire outside of the same, while the breast of the heel :is-a plane surface. This is necessitated by the fact that the outside of my heel must present to the eye substantially the sameappearance as that of ordinary heels.

- In order to provide a support for the breast of the' tread portion, I provide it with two projections 6, which project into two corresponding recesses in the inside of the strip of leather which forms the breast of the heel. The tread portion is to bel made symmetrical about a horizontal plane centrally located between the top and bottom of the tread por tion. T his permits the tread portion to be turned over when one face shalt have become irregularly worn in walking, so as to present a new face to the wear.

As the outer surface of the tread portion wears away and it becomes desirable to project it farther out to bring it toits proper elevation thin pieces of cork 7 or other suitable material may be placed under the tread portion, between it and the top of the shell. These pieces of cork may be made of such thickness as to efficiently support the tread portion when the worn surface is inserted into the shell-that is to say, in order to adequately support the tread portion a wedge shaped piece of cork 7 may be inserted under the tread portion to fill up the space worn away.

In use the shell is first attached to the heelseat of the boot or shoe by means ofa seam of stitches or by nailing, as may be desired, and then the removable and reversible tread portion of rubber is pressed into the shell, in

which it is held by the elasticity of the rubber, which will be slightly compressed in the process of insertion, so that it shall be firmly held in the shell and capable of being raised as it wears away by washers of any suitable material interposed between the top of the shell and the upper side of the tread portion of rubber and which tread portion may also be readily renewed when worn out. sired, one surface of the tread portion of rubber may be made rough, as shown at 8, and the other surface may be made smooth, so that it may be turned over to adapt it for use under different conditions-as, for instance, the rough portion may be used during icy or wet weather and the smooth portion may be used during fair Weather.

I am aware thatit has been proposed in the patent to Blake and Libby,No. 105,3S9,to cover a solid block of wood or composition with a thick band of leather; but I am not aware that it has been proposed to provide a leather-heel shell with a removable reversibe tread portion of rubber. I am also aware of the patent to Randolph,No. 473,590,dated April 26, 1892; but my invention is `clearly distinguished from what is shown in that patent by the fact that the outer surface of my heel is composed of one integral piece of leather, with the grain thereof on the outside, whereas in theRan- If de-' dolph heel the socket to receive the rubber block is made by a series of lifts of leather provided with a recess extending into them, besides which, as above suggested, the rubber tread portion of my heel is reversible, being made symmetrical in form about a medial horizontal plane.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United Statesl. As an article of manufacture a heel for boots or shoes havin g an outer shell of leather and a treadportion of rubber, and a washer of suitable material interposed between the top of the shell and the upper side of the tread portion, substantially as described.

- 2. A heel for boots or shoes, having a shell of hard material provided with a small cavity in. the inside of the body of the breast thereof, and a removable, reversible tread portion of rubber provided on its breast with a projection complementary to the cavity on the inside of the breast Vof the shell and adapted to engage with and. lit in said cavity to assist in holding the tread portion in the shell, substantially as described.

3. A heel for boots or shoes, having an outer shell of hard material, the sides and rear of the shell being convex on their inner sides, a removable, reversible, and imperforate tread portion of rubber having its sides and rear concave and complementary in shape to the inside of the sides and rear of the shell and having its upper and lower faces of the same size, whereby the tread portion is adapted to be held either side up by the shell and with its upper face at Varying heights therein so that the tread-face is always projected from the shell the same distance although worn thinner by use, and a washer, said tread portion being adapted to be maintained in position by means of said washer interposed between the upper face of the tread portion and the lower side of the top of the shell, sub stantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES BLACKADAR.

Witnesses:

F. W. DANIELS, C. A. DUIRELL. 

